Page 88 of Anywhere

I was truly horrified by the thought. I may not have known my mother well because she was murdered when I was so young, but I couldn’t imagine my father treating her like that. The man was a colossal dick, but an abuser was not something I would ever put on his resume.

“I don’t think so. I mean, I don’t really know. It’s not like I know Angus well, but I never heard any whisperings.” Mari shrugged. “This all took place right after the war when the Factions were created. Like so many things after the war, things changed for the worse. It was like all the advancement that had been made by civilization was destroyed. There were only a few who dared write about what it was really like before the world fell.”

Mari ran her hand down her long braid. “I’ll show you those books as well. We are one of the few Factions that keep them on hand and allow the next generation to read them. With each new generation, the rules and thoughts continue to evolve, and that is the only thing that gives me hope that one day cursed women like me will get to be paired or at least be allowed to have a life.”

“Mari, you’re not cursed. I….”

“Rook, I mean no disrespect, but don’t be trying to tell me what I am when you have not spent a single day as me. You have no idea what I’ve lived through or what the Faction has made me do in their name. You may see me as your cousin, as family, and as an equal, but you and Rhys and a handful of others are the exceptions, not the rule. Even my own father sees me as a commodity to be sold and has told me such to my face. When a deal couldn’t be made to sell me off, I was pushed to the side and became nothing more than his sword for hire. I cannot live or breathe or sleep without permission, and I’m certainly not allowed to love or speak out of turn. Speaking to you like this right now could get me whipped, and yet I do because I’m tired of it. You and Rhys and Elewyen here are a beacon of hope for me and many others.”

“Are you serious? You could be punished for telling me the truth?”

“I could be punished for looking you in the eyes the wrong way. If you chose to punish me yourself, you could do so openly here in this training area, and if I wanted to live, then I must submit.” She lifted her shoulders in a small shrug. “Just because most of the rules are no longer followed, doesn’t mean they don’t exist and are still used when the council wants something.”

My mind reeling, I turned to look at Elewyen and didn’t know what to say about any of this. How was I supposed to convince her to stay here after learning all of this? If I was her, I wouldn’t want to stay. This explained so much about why she attacked me the way she had. Not only did she think Rhys and I had killed a bunch of innocent people, but she’d been taught that we planned to violate her. I liked my sex rough, but I wasn’t about to take it without consent. That was a line I wouldn’t even cross, Devlin, on the other hand…Fuck, I could see my brother being into this shit. That worried me.

“I don’t know what to say to any of this other than I’m sorry for what my ancestors have done,” I said to both women.

This was what Rhys meant when he said I’d been living with my head in the clouds. I had lived a life that was a modern fabrication to placate the Flitters who lived in those areas. But under the bright lights and cheering fans was an ugliness. Had my father really been trying to shield me from all of this, or did he not think I could handle it? That was a question for our next call.

Elewyen lifted a shoulder. “Me tink we done enough talkin.” She gave me a smile. “Let’s fight,” she said.

I caught the canne Mari tossed my way out of the air and smiled back. “All right, let’s do this.”

Rook

Okay, I thought I was fucking tough, but going multiple rounds with Elewyen and Mari was a whole new level of pain. Not that I was going to let anyone know that. I walked away from the fight with my head held high and at least twenty new bruises to add to the others.

Washed and changed, I went down to the library and found Mari staring at the shelves with a stack of books in her arms. I closed the door quietly, but she still jumped like I slammed it in place. Her eyes searched my face as if I was planning on attacking her.

“We need to talk, and I thought that it would be best if no one else could hear the conversation,” I said and waved my hand over the door to create a barrier from prying ears. One thing I’d learned in my short time here was that, for as big as this place was, everyone knew everything going on.

“Okay,” she said, then walked over to the nearest table and sat the books down. “If this is about Rhys and me, you don’t have to worry, but thanks again for…Well, for what you offered.”.

“That’s not what I wanted to talk to you about,” I said.

Her eyes lifted to find mine again. “Oh, okay. What did you want to talk about?”

“What are you hiding from me? More specifically, what are you and Rhys hiding from me? I don’t like secrets, and I really fucking hate being left in the dark.” I leaned my hip against the table and watched as Mari’s face transformed from open and friendly to a stone-cold mask.

“We’re hiding nothing,” she said.

Taking a deep breath, I slowly moved around the table, and as I did, her back straightened. “I’m not going to fight you, Mari,” I said as I came to a stop in front of her. “But you owe me. I gave you your night with Rhys completely guilt-free, and this is what I want in return. I deserve to know the truth of what is really between you two because there is more than longing and desire. The way Rhys looks to protect you and worries about you is beyond that.” I leaned down closer to her ear. “What are you hiding, cousin? What don’t you want the world to know? Don’t make me ask Rhys and put him in the middle again.”

“You’re an asshole, Rook. You know that, right?” Mari said, and it made me smirk.

“I’ve been told that once or twice.” Pulling out a chair, I sat down and waited for her to follow suit. She shook her head as she sat beside me and clasped her hands on the table.

“If I tell you this, you can never repeat it. I mean it, Rook. Don’t toss it out as a joke, and don’t try to use it against me or to pry information from me because I cannot say. It is of the utmost importance that no one ever knows. Rhys is the only one who knows the truth, and it puts him at risk just for knowing. You need to promise me right now on your own life that you will never breath a word of this again.” Her eyes bore holes into me, and I could feel the weight of her words.

I licked my lips. “Okay, I promise.”

“No, not good enough. You need to say I promise on my own life that I will never discuss this again with anyone, not even Rhys. This will become something that neither of you can talk about. Words can travel even when we don’t mean them to.” Wasn’t that the truth?

“So you’re asking me to keep this secret from him, too?”

“From the moment I tell you this, you need to forget it again. Pretend you never heard it and move on. You’re the one forcing me to say this, so if you want to know, these are the conditions.”

Leaning back in the comfortable chair, I crossed my arms over my chest. “Fine, I swear to you on my life that I won’t say a word.”